by Elin Wyn
“Oh,” was all that Daphne said, her voice full of wonder.
I was not inclined to add much to her statement. I was captivated by the intense beauty of what I was looking at. I looked up, towards the top of the cavern, and I could see roots protruding from the ceiling, roots that must have belonged to something, though I wasn’t quite sure what, since we were underneath a desert.
But I didn’t care about the oddity of a thick root system underneath a barren desert. This place was far too beautiful and amazing for me to concern myself with something that could potentially be explained as an ancient root system of plants from long ago that are in a hibernation state until the climate above returns to a conducive environment for them to grow again.
None of that mattered to me as I stared down at the magnificence of the cavern again. Blues and reds and oranges and yellows stood out against the greens and purples and…I didn’t even recognize those colors. The combinations of colors that I never had believed could go together in harmony filled this place with a beauty indescribable.
At the bottom of the cavern, I could see a giant, bulbous plant that carried green and blue coloring open to reveal a white center. It must have stood easily twice my height for it to look as large as it did from up here. I had never wished to know more about the anatomy of plant life than in that moment. It felt inadequate to merely call it a bulbous plant with a center.
The green and blue coloring of the bulb was replaced with yellow and red on the inside of the petals. The white…center…almost seemed to pulsate for a few moments before the flower closed again. Its closing almost felt sad.
Daphne, without thinking, I was sure, reached out and touched my arm. She was just as enthralled, maybe even more so, with what we were seeing. “Look,” she said breathlessly. She was pointing at a section of the cavern that seemed to be moving. They were vines, and they were thicker than the trees up top, some even thicker than the ones used to encase the city.
They were horizontal, most of them, and seemed to create a dam for what looked to be a large lake. I wasn’t sure if it was water or not, but the rippling surface looked like water from here. Some of the vines, at the ends of the ‘dam’ turned and became vertical, stretching up to the ceiling.
It was more than my imagination could have come up with.
And all of it belonged to the Puppet Master. It had to. I had no other explanation for it. Whatever this creature was, it was responsible for so much more than just simple vines.
I looked down at Daphne to see that she was in as much, if not more, awe than I was.
I don’t believe she even noticed that she still held onto my arm.
And I… I didn’t mind it a bit.
Daphne
If Takar said something to me, I didn’t hear him. Hell, he could throw a bucket of ice water over my face and I wouldn’t have noticed.
The cavern opened up to a chamber large enough to fit several towering buildings. Even with the naturally formed pillars and columns, I had a hard time believing that this cavern had stood the test of time without caving in.
Now I had just about a whole world to explore down here.
“We could use that sturdy one there,” Takar’s voice pushed its way into the peripherals of my hearing.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, only half paying attention to the words my mouth formed.
“The pillar there. I just said that. Weren’t you listening?” I heard the annoyance in his voice.
“No,” I smirked.
“I’m guessing that’s a theme with you?” Takar replied coolly.
“We’ll have to see,” I shrugged. I wasn’t used to working directly with another person. Collaborations were commonplace at the hospital, but it was more of an “I do my job and hand it off to the next person” kind of situation. It was different in surgery, but it’d been a while since someone went under in my surgical suite.
“Now, what are you talking about?” I dramatically rolled my neck to look at him.
“That pillar there,” he pointed to an impressive rock formation. “I’ve got grappling hooks. Only one set, so you’ll have to hold on to me. If we can get to the top, I’m willing to bet the surface layer is thin enough for me to break through.”
“Sounds reasonable,” I admitted. Thinking Takar’s explanation was finished, I turned my attention back to a particularly beautiful bloom to my right. I felt sure it hadn’t been there a moment ago, though I was distracted by the pretty picture laid out before me. I ran a finger along a lovely deep blue petal when I heard Takar clear his throat.
“What?” I asked.
“Let’s go,” he gestured impatiently.
“Oh, you meant now?” I furrowed my brow. “Are you in a hurry? What’s the harm in taking half an hour or so to learn about this place? Who knows? Maybe one of these flowers will unlock the mystery that is the Puppet Master.”
“I have orders to-”
Sensing the refusal before he could get it out of his mouth, I whirled around and snatched the comm unit from his utility belt. I suspected getting the drop on Takar was a difficult job, but he never expected me to make a move like that.
“Hey!” he growled. I skittered out of reach while I brought up the last unit he had contact with. Or at least I thought I did. The display was in his own language, but the design wasn’t very different from the ones we had.
“Takar, what’s your status?” A voice just as gruff as Takar’s came through.
“This is actually the young lass you were sent to rescue,” I twirled away from Takar and took a few steps down one of the naturally formed ramps in the cavern wall. “I’m trying to prove a point. I’ve found something amazing down here and I wish to study it. Are you all right with waiting a little while longer so that I can gather information?”
I flashed a grin at Takar that I knew would make his blood boil. He glared at me, arms crossed over his broad chest. Apparently, he’d given up trying to get his unit back. All the better.
Laughter came through the connection.
“That’s fine by us,” one of Takar’s teammates chuckled.
“Thank you,” I trilled before disconnecting. I tossed the comm unit back to Takar. “See? I told you there’s no harm in taking a moment to learn something new.”
The more he glared at me the wider my smile grew.
“Come on!” I dared him. “You can’t possibly be this boring all the time.”
“I’m not boring,” Takar muttered. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was getting defensive.
“Prove it,” I challenged.
“I rescued you, what more proof do you need?” I hadn’t expected him to take the bait. Now that he had, I was finally having a little fun.
“Being a hero doesn’t prove anything. You can be a hero and still be boring. And, if I’m remembering correctly, your little rescue caused the cave-in that forced us to come this way,” I replied. Takar was seething. I held back a giggle.
“If you hadn’t blindly jumped down a hole this wouldn’t have happened,” he replied.
“It’s a good thing I did, then!” I beamed. “Want to really prove that you’re not boring?”
“How?” he muttered begrudgingly.
“Hold this.” I shoved a piece of equipment into his hands. I wouldn’t need it. I dug through my bag, looking for one particular device. As I did, I continued to pass things for Takar to hold.
“Ah! There we go.” I pulled the device I was looking for out of my bag. Naturally, it had fallen to the very bottom. The bag was practically empty now. I looked over at Takar. Even with hands so large, he was struggling to hold everything.
“You all right?” I asked, holding back a grin. Takar muttered something about being a trained soldier, not a lackey. I opened my bag so he could tip the unwanted devices back into it.
“Gently!” I warned him. “Each one of those costs more than you make in a year.”
“You have no idea how much I make in a year,” Taka
r replied.
“I don’t have to. I know those things are worth more than both of our yearly wages combined,” I said.
“Then why would you dump them all into an unprotected bag and jump into a crater with them?” Takar asked.
“Where’s your sense of adventure? Doesn’t the thrill of discovery excite you?” I asked, mostly teasing him at this point. Takar responded with a scowl. “You’re pretty cute when you’re grumpy.”
“I’m not grumpy,” Takar insisted in a very grumpy manner. This time, I didn’t hold back my laughter.
“Come on, Mr. Grumpy.”
I turned my back on him and carefully made my way down a jagged pathway leading down to the bottom of the cavern.
I examined the device in my hands. It was a scanner that gave rough estimates of brain activity. It was supposed to be used on, you know, a body part containing a brain. Based on my experience, plant vines didn’t usually have brains.
Then again, this was a plant that broke every rule in the plant book. For all I knew, I was walking on its brain.
The brain scanner was roughly the size of my own hand. Even if something near me did have brain activity, my device would likely be too small to give me accurate results. On a whim, I lifted my device and scanned the portion of vine nearest to me. There was a minimal reading, which wasn’t surprising. All living things gave off some sort of reading.
“I’ll figure out what you really are,” I murmured to the vine as if it could hear me. “There’s got to be more to you than everyone thinks.”
I suddenly became aware that Takar wasn’t behind me. I looked over my shoulder. He was at the base of the natural decline, running his fingers along one of the rocky pillars.
“Find something?” I called to him.
“Not sure,” he called back, his brow furrowed. When he wasn’t focused on scowling at me, he was quite handsome.
Pity that didn’t happen more often.
When he didn’t elaborate, I rolled my eyes and tucked my scanner back into my bag.
“Is this some kind of guessing game?” I asked him.
“What are you talking about?” Takar replied.
“Do I have to guess what you found or are you going to tell me?” I prompted.
“These pillars weren’t made naturally,” Takar replied. “I suspect those ramps aren’t either.”
“They look naturally made to me,” I replied, though I wasn’t an expert by any means.
“It’s subtle,” Takar informed me. “These were formed by something huge, but not terribly powerful. I’d even call this a delicate job. Judging by the placement, I’d also call it deliberate.”
“But why?” I asked.
“I couldn’t tell you,” Takar replied. “It certainly wasn’t made by humans. Your terraforming technology isn’t this advanced.”
“I wasn’t aware we even had terraforming technology,” I admitted.
“Not surprising.” I caught the smirk in the corner of Takar’s mouth.
“Don’t be a dick,” I chuckled. “Could this be Xathi tech?”
“If it is, I haven’t seen anything like it before,” Takar replied. “But I don’t think it’s Xathi. The terraforming was done over time.”
“You can tell that?” I asked.
“Can’t you?” Another smirk. Now it was my turn to scowl. “That’s a fair question since you make a living looking at tiny changes in the brain.”
“Yes. The brain. Not earth. Not rock. Brain. Squishy, pink, human brains,” I replied.
“Human brains are pink?” Takar asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “Isn’t yours?”
“I don’t think so,” Takar replied.
“Don’t you know?” I mimicked his mocking tone.
“Very funny,” Takar scoffed. I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Well, while you’re solving the terraforming mystery, I’m going to keep looking around.”
Leaving Takar to stare at rocks, I made my way over to a few vines with luscious, bright blooms.
“How do you grow such beautiful flowers?” I wondered aloud.
“Are you talking to a plant?” Takar called to me.
“Yes,” I responded. “Don’t eavesdrop. It’s rude.”
“It has to be a two-way conversation before it’s considered eavesdropping,” he sighed.
Annoying him was fun.
Not nearly as fun as examining the vines one by one. I figured the thickest vine would yield the most results, though I wasn’t sure what I needed to look for. I decided to use all of my handheld devices, just to see what I could dig up.
And if it annoyed Mr. Grumpy a little more?
That was alright, too.
Takar
I was still concerned over what had affected the rock formations, shaped them into these forms.
Annie had talked to me once, while she was waiting for Karzin to finish his reports. It had been interesting enough that I’d spent a little time reading up on the field.
Not a lot. Just enough to make sure I could better follow what she was talking about next time.
Now that she and Karzin were mated, there would be a next time to talk.
This didn’t seem like it would be formed by flowing water. The shapes were smooth, but this was different from what I’d seen on the tablet.
The only thing that made sense to me was the Puppet Master and its vines. I knew what the vines felt like, rough, almost scaly. If they’d been drawn back and forth through the stone, wrapping around for some reason, that might cause these strange formations.
Another option, based on our excursions upon this planet thus far, was whatever race had left behind the ruins and the rift device could have made these, as well. I took out one of my scanners and began scanning and taking pictures. “Rokul?” I called for my brother over the comm.
“I’m still here,” he answered. He was having far too much fun with this.
With a shake of my head, I got back on the comm. “I’m sending you some pictures and video of what we’re looking at down here. Send it back, tagged for Amira and her team. Make sure you save a copy this time.”
“Wow,” he came back. “One time I forget to save a video and I never hear the end of it.” His voice was filled with fake indignation as he kept talking. “Why can’t you just forgive me, brother? Why?”
I turned off the comm. I wasn’t in the mood for his humor at the moment. I did as I said I was going to do. I took pictures of the striations on the rocks, the way the formations looked, and then pictures and video of the cavern itself. It made me uneasy, but still filled me with wonder to look at it, to see how life had somehow found a way to establish itself and thrive underground.
Even if that life was due to the Puppet Master, it was a magnificent sight.
I risked turning the comm on again to ensure that my brother had gotten the images and saved them.
He was still talking, “…believe that you’re not even answering me. You’re purposefully ignoring your older brother and letting him just flutter in the winds of abandonment.” I could hear the laughter in the background and I could imagine my brother overdoing it, making this entire diatribe of his into an overdramatic production.
I sighed, then whispered, just to make him pay attention. “Are you finished yet?”
“One more, then I’m done,” came his answer. “Ahem…why can’t you just let your dear old brother live the life he wants to live? Just forgive me already.”
I waited.
“Okay,” his voice as calm as it could be. “I’m done.” The laughter in the background was still audible.
I…while I was buried underground with an impossibly irritating beautiful woman and possibly the biggest threat we’ve faced, at least on a planetary level, my brother was joking around and acting like a fool.
No wonder I had always been forced to be the responsible one. “Did you receive the pictures and video I sent?” I asked.
“Got them. Sent them. And,” he
said quickly, “I have them saved. I even made duplicate files just in case.”
“Thank you,” I said. I hoped he could hear the feeling of annoyance in my voice.
“In all seriousness, though,” he came back on. “How are you doing down there?”
“As best as can be expected, I guess,” I answered. As I talked to him, I spotted Daphne, rubbing and caressing one of the vines while she had her small scanner out. “I’ll get back to you. I have to deal with this ketonsin woman.”
“Have fun,” his voice came back before I turned off the comm.
“What are you doing?” I asked Daphne as I approached her. The look on her face was pure wonder and amusement. I was forced to admit that she looked to be in her element down here. I don’t remember any of the other women looking so happy and content when they were working or studying something. It was an attractive look on her.
She looked at me and told me to hush. While it wasn’t unexpected of her to treat me that way, it still rankled.
“Can you please not touch the vine that way?” I asked, a bit quieter.
“Why not?” she asked, her voice matching mine, calmer now, soothing. Maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all.
If it could pacify her and not make her so much of a pain in my backside, maybe I could leave her down here?
No, I couldn’t leave her.
And really, I didn’t want to.
“Because it’s dangerous,” I answered. “How many times do I need to say it?”
“I guess until you say it right,” she responded. “It’s not ‘dangerous,’ per se, it merely has the capability to be dangerous…sort of like you,” she added.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
She shrugged as she continued looking at her scanner and touching the vine. “Think it through, big guy. You’re dangerous, but not inherently so. You don’t just go around breaking and shooting everything, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” I answered. “I’m much more aware of my actions and surroundings than that.”